Flaming Ride of Terror
by Eileen Fisher
Roller coasters are made to create fear and enjoyment much like
a scary movie or work of literature. In general, people like the feeling of
being scared and out of control on rides or in the movie theater because they
know that it is a completely safe experience, and once it is over they can
leave the feelings they had while experiencing it behind. Roller coasters
act as monsters and cause fears in several different ways. They give the illusion
of being dangerous, they give off unfamiliar sensations, and they test people’s
fear of heights, speed and loss of control. Monsters and Roller coasters alike
also change over time.
Monsters are created by society and change with culture through
time. As Cohen put it: “the monster signifies something other than itself:
it is always a displacement, always inhabits the gap between the time of upheaval
that created it and the moment into which it is received, to be born again”
(4). Roller coasters are the same way. The first roller coaster was made in
Russia in the fifteenth century (Braksiek, Roberts 66). It consisted of blocks
of ice used as sleds to slide down a seventy foot hill of ice (66). The first
American roller coaster was made in 1884 and had two forty foot towers and
reached a maximum speed of 6mph (66). The roller coasters today are drastically
different; they reach up to 415ft, 100mph, and have a maximum G-force (gravitational
force that pushes riders back into their seat) of 6.5 (66). The evolution
of roller coasters shows how technology is a large part of our society today
and was not in the past; yet, roller coasters have been popular since they
were first invented.
The first thesis in Jerome Cohen’s essay on Monster Culture
(Seven Theses) states “The monster’s body is a cultural body”
(4). He goes on to say that “[t]he monster’s body quite literally
incorporates fear, desire, anxiety, and fantasy, giving them life and an uncanny
independence.” They are designed to maximize the illusion of danger
(Berger 7). A distinct characteristic of monsters is that they create dangerous
environments. The goal of a roller coaster designer is to make them look and
feel more dangerous than they really are by creating illusions (Minton 20).
One of the scariest parts of riding a roller coaster is when it is slowly
moving up the first big hill and the passengers are anticipating the huge
drop in front of them, and they realize there is no turning back. Before the
action of the ride even starts two of the greatest fears are already racing
through the passenger’s mind: the fear of falling and of no escape (Minton
20).
Roller coasters have the theme of enclosed spaces which can
be compared to the literature we have read in class. Once the roller coaster
starts to move, the passengers are trapped in their seat without any way of
getting out until the ride is already over. This situation creates the fear
of no escape. When the roller coaster flies down the track at a speed the
passengers have never experienced before it gives a feeling in their stomach
that is like nothing they have ever felt before; it creates excitement, fear,
and uncertainty at the same time. “Human bodies don’t commonly
experience such acrobatic maneuvers, and that in itself is psychologically
disorienting. Anytime you put a rider in a situation they’re not used
to, there’s an element of the unknown. And for eighty percent of people,
fear is the unknown” (Minton 20). That unique feeling is an example
of what Freud describes as the uncanny: something that is unfamiliar and creates
uncertainty (195).
The theme of enclosed spaces can be connected to the story of
“The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe, and Dracula
by Bram Stoker. In “The Masque of the Red Death” the guests are
locked in the castle with the Black Plague; they have nothing left to do but
to wait for it to kill them. When they enter the castle they are unaware of
the dangers and fears they will be experiencing; just as on a roller coaster
once doesn’t get the full feeling of fright until the point of no turning
back. In novel Dracula, Dracula traps Jonathan Harker in his castle with now
way of escaping. Once Jonathan realizes he is trapped he begins to search
for any possible way to escape and is a failure every time. The feeling of
panic occurs in each of these situations.
Another common theme of roller coasters is the lack of control.
The passengers rely on the technology of the roller coaster to keep them safe
while going hundreds of feet in the air and upside down at high-speeds. The
have no control over how fast or high they go and they put their lives and
safety in the hands of technology. This is comparable to Truman Capote’s
In Cold Blood when Dick and Perry have the Clutter family tied up; they had
no control over Dick and Perry’s decision to leave them alone or to
kill them. The fate of the family was in the palm of Dick and Perry’s
hands.
In Mary Douglass’s essay she explains how margins are monstrous and cause danger. Roller coasters could be considered marginal because the speed, height, and sensations that one feels while riding them are outside the normal experiences of everyday life. An example of the abnormal experience is feeling weightlessness while going up-side down, or the feeling one experiences while dropping eighty miles per hour at an eighty degree angle for three-hundred feet
Works Cited
Berger, Alisha. “Vital Signs: Behavior; Terrified, but Feeling Good
About It.” New York Times 26 Jan. 1999 : 7.
Bram, Stoker. Dracula. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 1997.
Braksiek, Robert, Roberts, David. “Amusement Park Injuries and Deaths.” Annals of Emergency Medicine 5 Dec. 2002: 85-86.
Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. “Monster Culture (seven Thesis). “_Monster Theory: Reading Culture_. Ed. Jeffrey Jerome Cohen. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 1996. 3-25.
Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. New York: Routledge, 1966.
Freud, Sigmund. Writings on Art and Literature. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997.
Minton, Eric. “Thrills and Chills (designers of amusement park attractions exploit fear).” Psychology Today May 1999: 20.
